Psychokiller, written by myself and Tony Skinner and illustrated by Dave Kendall, was originally serialised in Toxic! comic and it’s one of my all time favourite stories. ‘Outsiders’ to comics have also read and enjoyed it, so we felt it was time it was shown to the wider audience on Substack in its original weekly sections.
Co-writer Tony Skinner and myself created the story without a particular artist in mind. The objective we had set ourselves was to create a hero in a world imbued with dark comedy, horror and mystery. I believe we succeeded admirably with Psychokiller and I personally found it refreshingly different to the characters I had written for 2000AD.
It’s in the dark magician genre of fantasy where – offhand – I can’t think of many characters who have achieved widespread popularity – apart from Doctor Strange and Doctor Who. Unaware of this, I fully expected it to be the Number One story in Toxic! and was a little surprised when it was our hitman story, Accident Man, instead. I think the fact that there are not that many successful stories in the genre explains why. Readers like dark magicians, but an assassin like Accident Man will usually trump them. (So I’m pleased that my current text thriller series serialised here on Substack is MI7 Assassin!)
That said, I’m still convinced that if we had produced a second series of Psychokiller we would have turned the tables on Accident Man. Why? Because we had the most brilliant artist for the series in Dave Kendall of Dead World fame (2000AD).
Kevin O’Neill was the art editor on Toxic! and found Dave for us. An artist approved of by Kevin, he was undoubtedly born to illustrate Psychokiller. Why? Because his work has humour, horror and he can draw real life. It’s not always easy for a fantasy artist to tear themselves away from fantasy to draw hospitals, girls’ bedrooms and council housing, but Dave manages it effortlessly. And many of the great British fantasy artists have a comparable wild and oddball style that usually takes a while for the audience to get used to. Usually about two series. Mick McMahon and John Hicklenton spring immediately to mind. And, indeed, Kevin O’Neill himself. So I saw then – and still see today – Dave’s art as being in the same league as those talented guys.
Dave is very modest and says how he has developed from Psychokiller, his very first serial. I know he has, but for me and many readers, especially those who have no preconceptions, this volume you are about to see is already the business.
Originality is everything to me, as is drawing from the heart. Dave is a true original and his work has real passion.
Originality is everything to me, as is drawing from the heart. Dave is a true original and his work has real passion. Equally important, he’s an excellent storyteller so – given the wildness of the art – it is a surprisingly smooth and easy read.
And this is no maverick opinion of mine. We found when we sold the complete volume, that a surprisingly large number of orders came from France – the home of bande dessinee. As I relate in the Secret History of Nemesis, French comics were the original inspiration for 2000AD and, indeed, for just about all the leading sf movies from Star Wars to Blade Runner. So it’s hardly surprising that they should recognise and appreciate Psychokiller. They know talent when they see it.
So if you’re ready for your demonic irrigation, Doctor Morbus, the Psychokiller, will see you now. I’ll be there on each episode to provide patient’s notes for the Doctor.
Psychokiller is available from Amazon on Kindle and in paperback, and includes a bonus nine-page horror art gallery from Dave Kendall!
EPISODE ONE – Pages 1-8
I love Dave’s depiction of St Vekor’s Psychiatric Hospital. I’ve no idea who St Vekor is or where Tony and I got the name from, but I do believe it has all the necessary qualities for an Arkham Asylum. This is confirmed when teenager James Anderson is taken to Bathory Ward. I’m chuckling already and I’m only on page three!
Then we meet Morbus on Page 5 and his appearance is truly iconic, an eccentric, terrifying figure. I loved the general ward where we see the patients stricken by supernatural phenomena. Especially the British colonel who is rightfully paying the price for his rabid colonialism and Morbus is going to have to perform an emergency ectodectomy.
There’s a fantastic ending where the demon emerges. Both Tony and I have a low opinion of psychiatry – I’ve visited the anti-Psychiatry Museum in Los Angeles and have seen for myself just what a quack science it often is. As the media admits today with the tragedies caused by their anti-anxiety drug Pregabalin for which psychiatrists and Big Pharma are responsible. (Don’t be put off by the fact the LA museum is backed by Scientologists. They never bothered me. It’s also based on the work of the eminent Professor Thomas Szasz, whose books I greatly admire.)
So I have some skin invested in the game and freely admit Psychokiller was a fantastic opportunity to poke fun at the often criminal science of psychiatry that is probably worse, more arrogant, and more out of control today than when Tony and I wrote Psychokiller. I’m sure many readers will feel the same way. I envisaged future stories where I really got to satirise those psychiatrist quacks and I’m still frustrated that I never got to do so.
Next week: ‘Pass me the tenderiser, nurse.’
Download doesn't work. Probably because of the hyphen used. If you replace it with a standard hyphen (or another character) then it should resolve the issue. The technical reason is explained in the issue here but you probably don't have the bandwidth of time to be that interested: https://github.com/IQSS/dataverse/issues/4524 (this issue is for another system but is the best explanation that I could find you in short notice).